Bridges

April 10, 2009

Since C and I are visiting our families in South Florida for Easter, we decided to use the opportunity to push ourselves a bit and take on our first bridge. I know that my training for the Nike Women’s Marathon is going to require some serious hill training since it’s in San Francisco, but since we live in a pretty flat part of Florida there aren’t many hills. There are, however, lots of bridges! I was nervous/anxious/excited about this because I knew I was going to have to push myself harder than usual to finish the run. I was also excited because C’s shins have been feeling better, so he decided to run with me. Yea for another running buddy 🙂

We slept in a bit later than we wanted (new surroundings, new bed, etc.) and woke up to a pretty overcast and windy day. We each had a banana and half of a oatmeal raisin Clif Bar, packed our Camelbaks and left to drive to the beach. We drove over the causeway and parked at a Cumberland Farms where we bought some gallons of water and filled up our Camelbaks (I have a Dream and C has a H.A.W.G) and we set off for a warm-up walk. The walk was a little longer than we thought (nearly .6 miles) but the Garmin beeped, signalling our run, and we were off!

We took it slow (as usual) and before we knew it, we went a mile and the bridge was looming before us. The sun came out and it was HOT but there was a nice breeze. We ran up the bridge and I was really pushing myself like nothing else. My Garmin beeped, signalling a walk, and I just kep going. I was determined to prove to myself that I could make it up the darn bridge. C was behind me and heard the beep and wanted to know why we were still running. I yelled at him, “BECAUSE I’M RUNNING IN A MARATHON AND I HAVE TO DO THIS! WALK IF YOU WANT!”. Making it to the top that bridge totally invigorated me. Okay it totally kicked my butt but at that point, at the top of this monster bridge, I felt like a runner. A TRUE runner. We were a sweaty mess and thank goodness for our water and the Margarita Shot Bloks. Believe it or not, the second run up the bridge to get back was a bit easier than the first time. We took this picture at the top. Such a beautiful view!

After we finished the bridge and started running on flat land again I could totally feel it in my buns! Ohhh, they were burning, but it felt great. Unfortunately, I misread my Garmin and when we finished up our 4 mile run, we had actually gone just under 3.5 since it included the .6 we walked. At that point we were too tired to run the full 4 so we chalked it up to a shorter, more difficult run and took it. I’m also starting to rock a t-shirt/Garmin tan, despite lubing up with lots of sunblock. Down here we call it a “farmer’s tan” and by the end of the summer I’m going to be looking pretty silly!

Today’s stats –Time: 51’19”Distance: 3.48 milesPace: 14:46’/mile

When we got back home we drank our muscle milk (love that stuff!) while C made some eggs. We were starving so we finished off two scrambled eggs, english muffins and some activia with granola. I think I’m off to take a nap!